The Beauty of Adoption

The discussion of abortion often negates the very real and very positive option of Adoption. Adoption has never been at the heart of any major “pro-choice” organization, especially Planned Parenthood. “Choice” is a sham. In 2010 they committed 329,445 abortions, while only serving 31,098 prenatal clients and making a measly 841 adoption referrals. That’s 392 abortions for every ONE adoption referral.

Children deserve better. Women deserve better. Would-be fathers deserve better. For those who may be considering abortion, there are women who’ve been where you are and can help you make a fully-informed decision that benefits you and your baby. (You can also simply call 1-800-395-HELP for confidential and compassionate help.)

Well-known individuals, who have influenced our lives in some way, were adopted and had (or continue to have) an amazing impact on the world around them: Charles Dickens, George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, Nat King Cole, Babe Ruth, Dave Thomas (Wendy’s), Bo Diddley (musician/performer), Dan O’Brien (Olympic Decathalon Gold Medalist), Melissa Gilbert (“Little House”…), Lynette Cole (Miss USA 2000), Steve Jobs (Apple), and Faith Hill. No matter the perceived worldly success of an adoptee, adoption is a loving act and transforms not only the life of the child but the entire family.

Here are some adoption-related resources to help you on your journey! JUST CLICK ON IMAGE TO VISIT SITE. If you have any questions, feel free to contact The Radiance Foundation at 1-877-51-SHINE.

Comments

Melanie

February 14, 2010

If you’re a pregnant black woman looking to place a baby for adoption, PLEASE go through an agency and pick a family for your child. Otherwise, there’s no telling how long your child will be waiting for a family. If adoption is so wonderful, why are there 2200 children waiting for a home?

Adoption is a wonderful option. Each year, there are over 120,000 adoptions in the United States. 98% of Americans, however, haven’t ever adopted. And that’s why The Radiance Foundation travels actively promoting and educating people about Adoption, financial resources available, and online sources to inform people about the process. We will be including another section that deals with this more in depth on TooManyAborted.com.

Barbara

February 15, 2010

ANYONE that believes that ANY child, black or white, are an endangered species, have not been paying attention to the foster care statistics. Look and see how many children have no place of their own already.
I adopted out of foster care – people need to step up and take care of the children that are already here.

I was once pro-choice, but became pro-life many years ago. My challenge is this: if you think or yourself as “pro-life,” carefully and prayerfully consider if your family is able to adopt just one child. We did this seven years ago, and our family has been so enriched! Love is more powerful than biology, language, culture, or origin. I know many “pro-life” people do a lot for others. But I ask you to think seriously about changing the world for one child who desperately needs the family you’ve built. Please! Too many gifts, talents and opportunities are locked into prisons of poverty or abandonment. The human cost is far too high.

Sarah Guy

February 23, 2010

These stats are shocking to me. I am glad to see this blurb about adoption on the site, but I wish it were a bigger, front page, jump out at you section.
Adoption is always a better choice than abortion, but the previous posters are correct- there are so many children waiting for homes. That’s because people want babies, not children with “problems”.
I challenge any pro lifer to adopt a foster child. And if you are going to picket an adoption agency, bring an intended parent with you. If you are going to stand there screaming at some scared girl not to abort her baby, be prepared to offer her a better option, right there, because options are something she probably doesnt feel she has.

Heather

February 23, 2010

I myself was adopted – I am thankful my bio-mom choose life. I’ve also been on the flip side of the choice issue … I was pregnant at 19 (unwed) – I choose life – I am glad I did. It was hard – College, full time job, paying all the bills on my own etc… it was a struggle – but we [my son &I] made it. Life although tough at times is a gift – God can give us the strength to make it through – and there is help out there – Abortion seems like the “quick fix” – but I know from friends [who’ve had one] that their decision to abort lives with them always – in the recesses of their minds they’ve wondered “what if … i’d made a different choice” – any one reading this contemplating abortion – please know choosing life makes you a hero – to face the difficulties (emotional/physical) an unplanned pregnancy brings with it – not an easy road, but one filled with goodness, hope and love – the right choice will offer you peace and rewards which cannot be measured in this lifetime.

Jerica

February 23, 2010

Melanie- It’s expensive to adopt and not everyone who wants to can afford it. But it’s a lot better than allowing some doctor to take money and kill your unborn innocent child. Do you think it’s fair to kill a baby that hadn’t even had a chance to live? If so, then you don’t understand the meaning of innocene or life. I’d rather there be babies/ kids waiting for a family in an adoption agency rather then getting killed because of some woman’s idiocy, paying the price because a woman was too greedy or lazy to take birthcontrol. In my opinion adoption is the number two beautiful thing you can do, number one of course is keeping the baby. If these woman would quit taking the easy way out of their mistakes they might be happy that they ended up getting pregnant. Otherwise, adoption is the right thing to do.Don’t kill an innocent baby because of your idiocy, give the baby a chance to live.

Maria

February 24, 2010

Jerica- I am happy at your passion on the issue, but before you say or assume that these women are just taking the easy way out consider all sides of the story. Choosing life is always a wonderful choice and it should be the first consideration. However, have you considered that maybe more times than not these women and young girls may actually want to keep their baby, but family or significant others (the father) might be giving them the negative pressure to do this. Maybe there was abuse. There is never an easy way out for a woman who feels that her choices are: 1). abortion, 2). giving her baby up for adoption, or 3). struggling to take care of a baby that she will barely be able to take care of with little or no support from family, friends, or agency. Yes, there are those who are those who just don’t care and use abortions as a form of birth control. This is another problem we have to address as well. However, more often than not, these women are getting pressure to do this from just more than feeling “incovienced by a baby.” They actually believe that this is a better choice than them bringing their children into a world and a situation that at the time they are certain will not get better. I am thankful everyday that I kept my children, but the fact still remains that this isn’t just about abortion. This is about families that are broken, kids who are not being adequately taken care of, and a biased system who is letting certain demographics of people fall by the wayside; all the while people sit by and judge a situation by the surface instead of truly getting involved. For everyone, especially me- this should be a wake-up call for the entire country that real change needs to be reached on poverty, healthcare, education, and funding that needs to be put back into the communities that this billboard is targeting. It is time to start putting the family back together, especially in the black community. Now, let’s have a billboard and a campaign about that!

TRO

February 24, 2010

Jerica – not every case is like that.. What if you are raped and become pregnant? Then what.. I do not think a child should be born under that. That child should not have to wonder who its father is nor should the mother have to deal with the pain that comes with that. Now if you lay down with a person and get pregnant then yes I believe you should have the child. If you decide its not right for you then think about giving the baby up for adoption.. But women have a choice and it is up to them to decide what fits them best. I have been on both ends of this. Myself having an abortion and then my daughter being raped at a party at 15, then having to have an abortion, it is not fun. If I could turn back time I myself would of had that child but I let the father talk me into it. As for my daughter I would never let her go thru having a child from a rape, that is not fair to her or the child. Just remember women have a choice and nobody can judge what they decide besides GOD…

@TRO. Life is precious no matter the origin. My biological mother was raped yet still chose life. I don’t diminish your daughter’s pain or anyone else who has been violated with such an evil act. But perhaps seeing the other side of the story, of one spared from abortion, could illuminate a different perspective. All life has Possibility. Here’s the story of mine: http://www.toomanyaborted.com/?p=506 I’ve had a great life, as have many who were born of rape. My multi-racial adoptive family and incredible parents enabled me to realize my innate Purpose (as with every unborn child). Humans have the remarkable propensity for overcoming the seemingly insurmountable. It’s that triumph that inspires and compels us to greatness.

Allison

February 24, 2010

It’s very sad that black women don’t know that they ARE abortion targets. And because most black women get defensive about race, they don’t want to see past that. I am a black woman who knows the truth about abortions. Margaret Sanger started Planned Parenthood to end the black race in this country. Please, please, please before you get offended, search the truth on this subject. When you see the facts laid out, it’s hard to deny.

Our family is pro-life & living it! We have adopted 6 children through the foster care system, and our youngest from Ethiopia. We are continuing the adoption road, and waiting for God to point us to our next child. If only 7% of Christians would say yes to adoption there would be no more orphans- worldwide! If we would take the time to step up and really dig deep we would not want nor need abortion!

This is something that should be talked about in ALL CHURCHES, in our education systems, in our work places!!!! Every child deserves a family that loves them for who they are & what God has created them to be!

It is NOT too expensive. In fact if you are foster parents there is financial assistance!!!!!! There are also grant programs for local or international adoption as well. According to the fact that 1/3 of our world is starving- we all live too richly, and could give something up- wouldn’t you want that for a child you already have in your home if something happened to you? I would!

@Dawn. Amen to that!!! We’re trying to raise awareness about the beauty of adoption as we travel nationally and try to recruit couples/individuals to adopt. We also connect them with local/national resources that make lessen the financial aspect of adoption. People don’t realize that there are many resources out there.

May the Church WAKE UP and match its rhetoric with action! Much love to the Wright Family!

Roberta

March 18, 2010

I have wanted to adopt for many years but I have found that the cost is ridiculous. I know that there is a great need for adoptive parents especially for African American children. I have done a lot of research in this area and I feel like the agencies are basically selling these children.. I see no reason for the adoptive parents to be charged amounts as high as $37,000 to adopt a child that needs a home and needs to be loved. I am praying that I can find a birth mother that will allow us to pay the legal fees and be done, and also allow her to know where her baby is and how he or she is doing. I see no need why the agencies are getting rich and people who would love and care for these children are hindered because of fees. So if there is someone out there that is looking for a loving family for your child, please leave a post here with some type of contact information and lets save a child together. We would love to love your child in our home.

Ebonie

March 22, 2010

I am extremely upset that you are sending and the imminent danger that it places on women’s reproductive rights. I am a pro-choice black woman and, while I recognize the history of eugenics and the attempts to diminish black reproduction in American history, we cannot let that history damage the utter necessity to have the right to choose TODAY. Black women are not forced to abort their babies, are not being paid to abort their babies, or anything of the like. To the contrary, women, especially black women, are being disenfranchised from the necessary resources of prenatal care, birth control, and access to abortion. Let’s be realistic and face the real issues facing black women, black children, and reproductive access and justice and let’s not fall foolishly into the trap that white anti-abortion activists are using to take complete agency away from black people and victimize us even further!

Do not get me wrong, adoption is great. My parents adopted 5-year-old twins, black, from foster care, when I was 18 (2 years ago) and they are an amazing addition to our lives. And I do appreciate your emphasis on adoption. But adoption cannot be the only option for black women or any woman. They have, and rightfully should have, the right to choose how they wish to deal with your bodies. Push a pro-adoption agenda, sure! But it is extremely problematic and harmful to reproductive justice for all women to call for a prohibition of abortion.

Though we hold different views on the act of abortion, it is wonderful that we share the same interest in advocating adoption.

We should be extremely upset that innocent life is destroyed by an organization, Planned Parenthood, that makes hundreds of millions of dollars from that very destruction. Any society that loses hold of the history that defines the present, loses its understanding of meaning. To know the racist and eugenics-filled past of abortion should immediately highlight the euphemisms, such as “reproductive choice”, that have disguised its true intent. The tragic thing is that eugenics and racism are not merely elements of our past, but are present forces that continually drive abortion-on-demand.

Abortion kills innocent life…life that is not a woman’s body, but a completely separate and beautiful human being with unique DNA from the moment of conception. Since it takes both male and female for procreation to ever happen, we are now talking three individuals whose rights needs to be considered.

If you’ve read any of the material on the website, you would know that we do not make any assertion of black women being forced or paid to have abortions. Making these remarks indicates, quite clearly, that you should take the time to review the substantive content on TooManyAborted.com. The simply fact is that pro-abortion groups like NOW, NARAL, and PLANNED PARENTHOOD claim to provide comprehensive information, but instead, offer scant and misleading propaganda that doesn’t equip men or women to make a fully-informed decision. That’s the truth.

There are many real issues facing the black community. That doesn’t negate focusing on one that has the most devastating ramifications: abortion. Black children are aborted at 3x the rate of the white population. The deleterious effect this has had on the black community is measurable, in some ways, through the alarming rates of STDs/HIV, fatherlessness, and broken two-parent families. This is not freedom. This is not justice. This is destruction. By design.

And those that advocate for it continue to be deceived by propaganda that began decades ago with a singular aim. To purify the race and the stop the procreation of those deemed ‘unfit’. Poverty hasn’t lessened because of abortion. Violence in the inner-city hasn’t lessened. And now, with nearly 18 million less African-Americans due to death by induced abortion, political and economic power are far less.

You’re right. I agree that adoption isn’t the only option. It is one option of three: more personal upfront responsibility, parenthood, adoption.

There are so many resources out there (especially through Pregnancy Help or Pregnancy Care Centers). Death of an innocent life should never be an option.

This is Pastor Brown from the Seventh Day international Church of God-Baltimore support the Billboard. I encourage others to be more “Pro-Life” and to stop being a murder!!!!! The Bible say the least you do unto one of these babies your doing it unto God. Therefore, when you murder a baby it shows that if God was in your presence you would do the same unto Him!! “Be Pro-Life for God is!!!”. Remember he created us in his own image and own likeness.

Meghan

August 1, 2010

All this stuff about “its Ok to have an abortion if its a rape or incest case” is crazy. thats punishing the child for something he or she didn’t do. it’s not their fault, nor is it yours, but there is always wonderful people out there who will adopt and love that child if you can’t. just remember to stay out of the wrong places like clubs and bars and the bad side of town and maybe that won’t happen to you. or at least there is a less likely chance.

I was adopted, and thank God I was… Adoption has become a way for people to make money… Can’t sell an organ, but a child is fine.

Don’t misunderstand, I fully support adoption, I just wish it were easier for people to adopt. Not everyone has forty grand to adopt. And from the child’s perspective; I don’t think they care, they just want a home. It’s not like they get a cut of the money that was used to purchase them.

Adoption is a wonderful gift for both the child and parents; but, like everything else in our society it has been hijacked by a lot of the wrong people.

I am a happy mother of two wonderful young boys.I absolutely love kids.I want to have more kids , being a Mom is the best as far as I am concerned!I am in my late 40s , so I am considering adoption as its too late to have more of my own

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Andrea

April 14, 2011

I know personally what a positive and beautiful thing adoption is. My mother adopted me when I was five weeks old in Peru. She continuously taught me how to respect life. I have had a great and very fulfilling life since then! After high school I found out I was pregnant. Being the pro-life and pro-adoption person that I am, I decided to make an adoption plan for my daughter. Her due date was March 12, 2010, but was born very early at 32 weeks on January 22nd (the anniversary of Roe v. Wade). To everyone who knows about her, she is known as the baby born on Pro-Life day!

As a birth mother I could not be any more proud of my daughter, and my decision to give life (in more way than one). Four weeks after she was born, she was adopted by a single mother – just like I was – who I know will love her unconditionally and provide the necessities of life for her that I could not.

Since making the adoption plan for my daughter, I have made it a job of mine to educate people on the gift of life through adoption. I have started a Students for Life group on my campus. And although it has only been around for one semester, I know it will continue to grow!

ryan scott, if you read this, I would love for you to speak on our campus next semester!

Andrea, thank you for sharing your beautiful story. Too often, people only see the media’s portrayal of adoption and it tends to focus on the few negative situations and not on the beauty that the majority of adoptions reflect. Trust me, as one who is adopted and was born of unimaginable circumstances, I thank my Birth mother every single day. One day, I hope to be able to thank her in person for her courage and the gift of life that allows me to love and be loved.

I’m now blessed with an amazing wife and four beautiful children, our youngest through adoption.

I would love to speak on your campus. Don’t dismiss early and young beginnings! You’re gonna impact many others!!!

Andrea

April 18, 2011

Thank you for sharing yours and spreading the beauty of adoption! I, too, am very thankful my birthmother gave me life. The main thing she wanted for me was a good education. I plan to visit Peru after my college graduation in two years. With some luck, I will find her and show her my college degree!

You are an inspiration! I want so much to promote adoption everywhere and let people know what a blessing it brings to families. Then, I find out you’re already doing that – which just amazes me!

Please feel free to e-mail me on the e-mail required to leave a reply. I really hope you can come speak on my campus!

Ms. M

August 8, 2011

Something no one’s talked about is the fact that Planned Parenthood does not give out information on anything but abortion to those who have positive pregnancy tests. They ridicule anyone who asks for information on adoption (which they probably don’t have), and only hand out abortion referrals. Once women of color go to Planned Parenthood, walking in the door almost guarantees that the woman will have an abortion. This organization is as deceptive and coercive as it can be.

I recognized the holocaust of black children in the actions of Planned Parenthood a long time ago, thirty years ago in fact. Then it was so politically incorrect to say it aloud, you’d be shouted down. It is a relief to see that the Black Community is fighting back.

Let me know if I can stand shoulder to shoulder with you, and I’ll bring me friends.

Maria and others – adoption or choosing life may not be easy. However, choosing the right thing is often difficult. Please consider that abortion is murder. There is no difference in aborting a child then killing a child after birth, other than you would then be able to see that child.